The Supremacy Clause
Definition: Portion of Constitution mandating that the national law is supreme to all other
laws passed by the states or by any other subdivision of government.
-Article VI contains this law
-Basic primacy of the Constitution and national law over state law and constitutions.
-National and state officers take oath to support, obey, and utilize in their practice the federal
Constitution above any state law or constitution.
-Because of the supremacy clause, any legitimate exercise of national power supersedes any
state laws or action in a process called preemption.
-Without the Supremacy Clause and the federal and states’ to enforce it, the national
government would have a small enforceable power.
-Both the state and federal governments must be able to implement and work with the law in
order for the supremacy law to take affect.